


Little Fox

by speakingofalice



Category: Hunger Games Series - All Media Types
Genre: Backstory, Reapings, but lets see how foxface got there, we all know how this is going to end
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-01-01
Updated: 2015-01-01
Packaged: 2018-03-04 19:57:58
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,457
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3086969
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/speakingofalice/pseuds/speakingofalice
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When they called her name her heart sank in her chest and she looked down at her dusty shoes. When no one shouted that they would volunteer she started to walk towards the podium not looking at all of her siblings or her mother's stricken face. She knew, after all, that the road to death is paved with love.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Little Fox

**Author's Note:**

> So, this is super strange because I never write for the Hunger Games but I had to do this story for a college essay (can you believe it?!) about the Hunger Games and I worked hard on it so I figured, why not post it somewhere? I'm not a huge die-hard HG fan so some of my information might be off but hey, its just a story please take it at face value okay? Here's my first attempt at writing Hunger Games.

 

District 5 wasn't the most pleasant place to be on sunny days with no clouds in the sky and shade for cover. The glare of the too bright sun poured down on shoulders and body burning exposed flesh and searing pale skin. I pull my long-sleeved shirt as far as it would go down my arm trying to cover up the pale skin on my fingers as I walk from the Sun Fields over to the electrical plants on the other side of the district. It was a long walk usually made shorter by the use of the inner-district transport that helped get from one side to the other but I had missed it at its usual check point so it was a two mile walk for me to the next stop.

_One mile, five-thousand-two-hundred-and-eighty feet. There is one-thousand-six-hundred-and-nine point three four meters in one mile._

The facts flow through my head and for the first time in a while I don't try to stop them. Facts, useless at any other time now entertain me as I quickly put on foot in front of the other.

I look beside me at the Sun Catchers that extend high into the sky. It is strange seeing them not cover the sky the way they did near the main Catching Area a few miles back. There it was impossible to see the sky or the sun, everything was enshrouded in everlasting shade and darkness as the Catchers did their job and caught all they could to help power not only the Capital but also the Districts.

_The earth gets one-hundred-and-seventy-four Petawatts of incoming solar radiation in the upper atmosphere. About 30% is reflected back to space and the rest is absorbed by oceans, clouds and land masses._

I pulled my hat farther down on my head and crossed my arms putting one foot in front of the other. Absently, I thought of what we would be having for dinner, maybe Cadwyn would make her soup using the dried tomatoes I'd picked from the garden the other day. And mother could make her bread and mix that into the soup to make it chunkier. My mouth watered at the thought of food in my stomach. It had been a long work day in the Sun Catcher Fields. Red hair flies into my face that fell from the double side pony tails on either side of my head that Cadwyn did before I went to work. I can feel a smile slowly sweeping across my face thinking of the way Cadwyn had padded both of my cheeks lightly and called me her Little Fox.

_Though the sun is ninety million miles from the earth, it takes less than ten minutes for light to travel from that much of distance._

* * *

It's dark by the time I get home and my cheeks are hot from the sun that just descended from the sky. Sweat drips from my face, the long sleeve shirt is beyond repair being drenched in sweat. I walk up to my small metal home and open the door after taking off the heavy boots that weigh down my feet each and every day. The metal of the door is cool to the touch making me shiver. After opening the door, closing it and setting my boots down in their place I hear a sound to my right and have just enough time to pause and start to assess when suddenly there's a larger crash and a yell. Something large and laughing bounds into my side jerking me down to the carpeted floor.

"Calea Whittook," The mass above me yells, quite loudly. "You're late young lady!"

I force my beating heart to slow then roll my eyes hard trying to convey my annoyance.

"Jabber get off of your sister," I hear my mother's voice from somewhere back in the kitchen.

"Yeah Jab, get off of your sister." I mimic my mother smiling up at my youngest older brother. He lightly hits the side of my face giggling and telling me to try to get him off. I can feel my smile brighten as I kick my legs up. The fight was on.

"Calea! Jabber! Dinner." I hear Calah's voice yell beside me right when I have Jabber on his back with one of his arms slung up at an awkward angle. I smile down at my brother who laughs and pushes me off of him. The two of us are up and racing onto the kitchen seconds after the call to dinner.

I enter the kitchen waving at my sisters, Cadwyn and Calah, who are working with Mother to set the table. Breath comes fast as I plop down opposite Jachin who's busy with his head bowed over a book, his glasses slipping slowly down his nose like they always did. My family wasn't poor but a new set of glasses with frames that fit dipped too far into our reserves that we couldn't afford. Beside me, Jaco sat down smiling at me and grabbed for my hand then motioned to his face and twisted his fingers to say hello. Quickly I sign back a hello before he again takes my hand and looks across the kitchen to Mother. I look at Jaco for a moment longer before turning away to look down at his hand in mine and sighed. Jaco, seventeen years old and not able to hear a thing after a Electricity Feeder exploded a few years ago. Another shiver runs through me thinking of the explosion and the weeks and weeks spent in waiting to see if he would even live. I was ten at the time and so scared I remember not being able to stop shaking.

Again, Jaco squeezes my hand. I took a deep breath and tried to think of less nightmare inducing things.

"How was the Fields today, darling?" Mother asks me when she and my sisters finally sit down for dinner. Across from me Jachin closes his book lightly, I try to catch a peak of the title thinking devious thoughts of stealing it to read later. Beside Jachin, Cadwyn skillfully signs our words to Jaco.

"It was fine, a Catcher near the east end started to overheat a little past midday and few workers ran to shut down the distribute system so it didn't short circuit the entire grid. When it went black I went in with Lawrencia and Rwaler to take a look around. It was actually pretty interesting." I ended with a smile thinking of the wires and circuitry intertwined inside the Catchers.

"I will never be able to understand why you like that stuff," Jabber comments scooping a spoonful of soup into his mouth. I roll my eyes at him for the second time tonight as red-orange soup dribbles down his stubbled chin.

One would think after living with me for over fifteen years he'd understand how much I love the challenge of new information. Thrive on it, actually. The wires all mean something, different things, different signals going different ways. But it wasn't about the wires and circuits, it was about the ground. The plants on the ground. I loved those, the different plant life that grow under the Sun Catchers in complete darkness. There was Hemclovers and Rich Slacks and Nightlock and Temper Leaves and studying those was the highlight of each and every day. That was what I loved about working as a Sun Catcher Technician, if everything was working well and up to speed then people like me weren't needed and were allowed to do what we may as long as we stayed on our Field.

"I like… plants," I laugh only a little embarrassed and looking down at my bowl. Jaco pats my hand and uses the sign that means that he also likes plants and the conversation moves on from there as Mother asks about the others day at work until ending with Catwyn who goes off on an anecdote about her day working at the head Geologist at the center next to the Justice building.

"Sometime in the next few weeks they're saying that samples of coal from 12 will be shipped to our facility to be tested on their balance of phosphoric and carbon."

_Bituminous, Subbituminous, Lignite and Anthracite are the four different types of coal. Anthracite is called "hard coal," and is formed from bituminous coal when great pressures developed in folded rock strata during the creation of -_

"But that won't happen for a… for a while." Jachin says suddenly looking at his bowl and putting his spoon down. I can feel my heart sinking, a sick feeling pulling in my gut and now I'm not so hungry anymore. From the head of the table I see Mother's face grow pale as Calah slams her spoon down with a bang.

Mother smiles sadly at Calah then looks down to me and Jaco and Jabber. I hear Jabber swallow audibly. Mother licks her lips then puts down her own spoon and pushes away her bowl of soup. She opens her mouth to speak but then the alarm goes off from the Justice Hall and we're all up in a second.

The alarm blares loudly as I quickly walk up the stairs with Jaco behind me. He may not be able to hear but he's been doing this for seventeen years at the same time every night. I walk to Calah, Cadwyn and my room to turn off the lights and close the curtains while Jaco goes to his, Jabber and Jachin's room to do the same. Once ensuring no light can escape in either room we meet in Mother's small closet-like room to light her candles using a single match. Jaco signs to me that his room is dark and I nod back. Even though Jaco can speak – having been able to hear just like everyone else for years before the accident – he chooses not to unless necessary. He thinks signing is more effective and it's less likely for him to be yelling in a quiet place.

Once Mother's candles are lit we use the remaining seconds on the match to walk to the stairs to descend. The match starts to burn Jaco's hand half way down as it always does and we're plunged into darkness forced to be on our way with nothing. Once we're down the stairs we see a flickering light coming from the kitchen and head towards it. Mother is just about to sit back down next to Cadwyn and Jabber while Jachin and Calah finish closing the curtains and lighting the candles around our small home, respectively. We must save electricity for the Capital, we are told they need it more than us to power their luscious homes and complicated technology.

"I want us all to meet here and walk to the… walk over together tomorrow." Mother says and we all nod. There's an extra candle sitting in front of Cadwyn to light her hands as she expertly signs to Jaco.

I see Jaco biting the side of his lip thoughtfully before he opens his mouth to speak. "My name is in eleven times."

"Fourteen," Jabber whispers.

"Ten," comes from Calah.

"Thirteen," Cadwyn says.

"Five," I say with dread looking at Mother, my hands shaking.

Last year's Reaping was the worst one I'd ever gone through.

Franny was Reaped.

Franny was my best friend and when we held hands at the Reaping one year ago tomorrow I remember her telling me that everything was going to be okay but then the woman with too much makeup on her face and hair so big and heals so high she had to take small steps to get to the microphone on the stage said her name. It was all a rush of muted noise and I think I cried but I'm not sure. Then it was a mess of being forced to see her being paraded around in a chariot with our boy tribute who Jabber went to school with but I never met. She sat beside Caesar in an intricate golden dress with sparkles that resembled electricity pulsing through it and smiled but then I saw her tap her knee four times and my heart broke again because that was our sign and that was her saying that she knew I was with her and that was her saying she'll always be my best friend and that was her saying… that was her saying goodbye. I don't know if I was glad that she was killed swiftly and painlessly in the bloodbath at the start of the Games or furious that they killed her. She shouldn't have gone to grab anything. She should have just ran and got supplies later when the Careers weren't looking. She should have been smarter or not have used so much tesserae to get food for her family in the first place. She should have done something,  _anything_. But she ran into the Cornucopia and was murdered by the Tribute from 3.

_The odds of Franny being Reaped was one in four-hundred-and-ninety-four since she put her name in seven times. The probably of Franny winning the games was one in twenty-four._

"Everything will be fine," Mother says looking into the flickering candle light. Distantly I hear myself whisper those same words to Franny.

* * *

The sun beats down hard, harder than usual as we walk towards the Justice building. None of us speak as we walk, we don't have to. Anything we had to say already has been said and no one wants to think about the fact that it could be one of us. I shutter violently silently praying in my head.

_Not Jaco, not Calah, not Jabber please. Not Cadwyn. Please not Jaco… please._

He couldn't hear and a Tribute who couldn't hear was dead before the games even started.

Mother and Jachin smile sadly as they peel off and head towards the people who are too old to be Reaped. Calah also leaves with one last look as she joins the other eighteen-year-olds. I still have my hand wrapped around Jabber's with Jaco walking next to me and Cadwyn behind. There's so many people, everyone in the District, but no one is talking – it's completely silent.

Jaco goes off with Cadwyn to stand with the rest of the seventeens without a word and now it's just Jabber and I. We walk a few feet before I feel a pull and know that Jabber has to go stand with the sixteens. I feel his hand leaving my mine and I let it hoping it's not the last time. Jabber goes off and I continue on by myself to stand with the fifteens. I take my spot as Peacekeepers surround us all and rope us off. It's time for the Reaping to begin.

The woman from every year comes out on the stage cheerfully, the only cheerful one in fact. She smiles and waves flaunting her expensive clothes and extravagant purple wig. Her lips are a deep unhuman purple to match her dress while her eye lashes have small drips of purple coming off the ends. She goes through the same speech as every year then shows us the video of the Rebels and destruction of 13 and how we must all stay loyal to the Capital and to Snow. Absently I think of the time before the Games, I wonder if that time even exists. Maybe someday we won't have to bow to the Capital, put them above us. Maybe someday we won't have to turn the lights off at night in order for the Capital to have enough energy for their homes. Maybe someday, but that day wasn't today and now the woman is smiling and clapping her hands.

"Now it is time to choose the courageous man and woman-"

 _She says that because she doesn't want to call us what we really are. Victims. Children._ I think silently to myself.

"– who will have the honor to represent District 5 in this year's seventy-fourth annual Hunger Games!"

No one claps.

"A usual, ladies first." She walks over to the too large clear bowl filled with my name five times and Calah's ten. She sweeps her hand around a few times before digging and choosing one. I feel like I want to throw up or run away but I stay where I am and I stay quiet. She walks to the microphone and I plead with whatever god is out there that Calah's or Cadwyn's name isn't chosen.

_Not Calah, not Cadwyn, not Calah, not –_

"Calea Whittook."

All my mind registers is that that's my name. That's my name. I feel dizzy, my head spins making everyone around me morph into something else. I see them all back away from me, all my friends and the people I work with and those I didn't know. They back away as if I'm dirty, as if I have the plague, as if I was a dead girl walking which really I suppose I am.

_The Black Death from 1347 – 1351 was one of the deadliest pandemics in human history, widely thought to have been caused by a bacterium Yersinia pestis. From its origins in Crimea the plague spread to Western Europe and North Africa during the 1340s. The total number of deaths worldwide is estimated at 75 million people–_

My feet move without me telling them to. They're moving and I'm walking and she said my name,  _my_   _name_. The woman in purple seems too happy to see me to my death. She's smiling at me cheerfully as I drag my feet the short walk to the stage.

_This must have been how Franny felt last year…_

The woman takes my hand but I jerk back not wanting to touch her. A piece of red hair flies into my face and I shudder. The woman puts me beside her then walks towards the boys bowl. She takes a slip of paper from the jar and reads it into the microphone. I barely register as she reads the name of another fifteen-year-old who isn't one of my brothers. That boy, Wheeler Jesaver, comes to the stage quicker than I had. His black hair sticks to his pale head and his hand is sweaty and shaking when we are told to shake hands.

"Happy Hunger Games and may the odds be ever in your favor!"

* * *

"I wanted to volunteer for you," Jabber sobs into my hair as he grabs and grips me too tightly. I only get ten minutes with my family before they put me on the train to the capital. "I wanted to volunteer for you so bad Fox I-I…"

Calah comes to my other side, she is also crying. "I-I wanted to volunteer but-but-but I-I-I can't. I-"

Mother puts her hand on Calah's shoulder lightly and I watch as both my sister and my brother back away. Mother, red hair pulled back in a tight bun and greying at the roots looks me in the eye.

"You are smart," she says. "You are strong and I know you can win. Please… just come back to me baby. My baby..." Then her hands wrap around me and hold me tight. I lay my head on her shoulder and close my eyes letting the tears make silent tracks down my face.

Too soon there's a knock at the door, it's a Peacekeeper and he wants me. I hug my mother one last time then go to Calah and Jabber. Jachin comes at me then, his glasses already on the top of his head and his eyes red as he takes me in his arms. I feel so small in my oldest brother's arms.

Cadwyn is next and she brushes back a strand of hair from my face. Her own face is red, swollen. We hug and I feel a piece of my heart break.

Last is Jaco, he's standing next to the open door staring at me. I let him look as I stand still for just as long as I dare then rush towards him in my last bought of weakness. After this I know I have to pull myself together and look tough for the cameras and the Capital but right now I just want to be held, comforted.

"Be safe Little Fox." Jaco whispers into my ear before he lets me go. I nod at him and force a smile before turning around to leave. With one last look at my family I try to memorize their faces. I don't want to believe it but a voice in my head whispers to me that this is the last time I'd see them.

* * *

 

**Author's Note:**

> The project was to highlight a lesser known character from the Games and show your interpretation of who they were. I hope you enjoyed it. 
> 
> ... Okay, I'm going back to my regular fandoms now...


End file.
